There are plenty of staged Valentine’s Day themed love shoots on the wedding blogs out there that take place in beautiful settings with beautiful models…but how about an actual engagement shoot that took place actually on Valentines Day with two beautiful people who are actually really in love?!  It just so happened that bright and early on Valentine’s Day I had the pleasure of meeting Andrea and Chris for their engagement shoot in St. Pete!  Andrea is the type of person that you can’t help but love just from talking to her via e-mail:)  Andrea and Chris met when she was providing some technical training at his office and teased him for playing with his Blackberry during training.  When I asked her to describe him in three words she wrote “perfect.for.me.”  (sigh).  Chris described Andrea as beautiful (inside and out), funny and loving. He went on to tell me about a time that she made 3 pecan pies for his mom the first time she met her, just to make sure his mom liked one of them. These two are amazing!  The engagement shoot was so much fun and I absolutely cannot wait to shoot their Naples wedding in April.  Andrea and Chris, thank you for sharing yourselves with me (and putting up with my strange requests) and rocking out your engagement shoot!!

A few weeks ago my husband and I got the chance to travel back to our “hometown” of Harrisonburg, VA for a business trip of his.  Ok, we aren’t really from the ‘burg but that is where we both went to college (JMU!) and where we spent the first 7 or so years of our relationship so it feels like “home” to us! While Graham was busy working, I made a special trip out to Charlottesville to visit with a sweet friend of mine who I miss so much.  That afternoon I tagged along with her to second shoot for an engagement session that she was doing at the Boar’s Head Inn in Charlottesville.  It was fun b/c the Boar’s Head was the place where I second shot one of my first weddings ever with my first mentor the very talented Casey Templeton.  Shooting an engagement session in VA during the month of Feb is no joke…MAN WAS IT COLD!  Quite the contrast to the “winter” engagement session that I just shot here in FL haha.  Anyway, it was really fun to take a back seat and second shoot for once (it has been awhile!). It just lets you approach the shoot with a different perspective.  Ben and Amy (the couple!) were so gracious to let me tag along last minute and I just loved the unique style that they brought to the shoot.  Both are busy getting their doctorates in philosophy.  Ben proposed to Amy on a little bridge over-looking the lake behind the beautiful colonial style Inn.  Here are a few fun pics from their session.  It was fun to be back but lets just say I dont mind having all of the windows open in my house on this february winter day:)

I do miss those beautiful fall colors that you see in VA…

We had to snap a fun pic of the little stuffed boar that they picked up at the Boar’s Head gift shop after he proposed!

A very happy and love-filled Valentines Day from me to you!

I have so many fun things that I am working on (during my time off, I know, haha) including the incredible images from this morning’s Valentine’s Day engagement shoot with Andrea and Chris (this fun sneak peak image is from their shoot!).  Despite the fact that it is a Monday (yuck) I hope that you are spending it pouring out love on the people that God has put in your life!  My sweet husband made me chocolate pancakes with strawberries in bed this morning eaaarlllyy before I had to leave for my shoot (awwwww how sweet!).  I am still planning a romantic picnic dinner on our living room floor for tonight (last minute, I know) any recipes are welcome! haha. Happy Valentine’s Day!  x0x0

Looking back, 2010 was a challenging year.  In 2009 we moved to a different state, started new jobs, bought a house, started a new church and had a baby.  I think we got through that year on sheer adrenalin alone. 2010 was a year of trying to establish our new lives here in FL but God decided to keep us on our toes with all kinds of challenging circumstances.  Amazingly, and by the grace of God, our lives here, our jobs, our marriage and our businesses have continued to grow and flourish despite (and also because of) those challenges.  I really learned this past year that in order to keep up with a successful business and prioritize my husband and being a great mom to my daughter, I have to change the way that I run my business and more boundaries have to be put in place.  My time has become WAY more valuable which has challenged me to make changes accordingly.  I’m  not going to lie…It is hard to be a mom, a photographer and a business owner but my heart loves each of those facets of my life and I will continue to do them all for as long as God allows me to.

With that said, I am going to be making a lot of changes over the next two months with Shay Cochrane Photography.  During February and March I will not be taking on any new projects or clients.  I will be putting a few personal projects on hold and taking care of existing clients and sessions already in the books but will primarily be taking time to let my business and myself breathe, regroup and refocus before wedding season starts back up for me in April (which I am really excited about!).   During these next two months I will really be streamlining my work down to only what I love the most.  There are new things around the corner, some of which I don’t even know at the moment but I feel them as if they were standing right behind me, giving me goosebumps.  I owe it to my clients and most importantly, I owe it to myself to reconnect my work with my passions in a way that will make the future of SCP really incredible.

You will still see occasional posts of current work up on this blog as I finish up existing projects but I will also be doing more personal blogging during this time which you can follow on my new Tumblr page.  My hope is that what I share will challenge, stretch and encourage you as much as it does for me.  Thank you in advance for allowing me to take these next two months off to breathe and refocus.  Life is too short to not be doing what God has uniquely gifted you to do!  I am getting back to that and am excited for what is ahead!

You can check out my new Tumblr here: